Unexpected impacts of climate change on alpine vegetation

Cannone, Nicoletta; Sgorbati, Sergio; Guglielmin, Mauro

doi:10.1890/060141

Cited by 93 publications

(133 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(25 reference statements)

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“…For example, in 1946 Selander found that Saxifraga rivularis was the only vascular plant on gravel-covered ground, which evidently had become free from snow only in the past few years (Selander 1950). Indeed, the colonization of new species in high altitude areas is supported by floristic studies from other regions (Cannone et al 2007;Kullman 2010b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Climate-driven changes in pollinator assemblages during the last 60 years in an Arctic mountain region in Northern Scandinavia

Franzén

Öckinger

2011

J Insect Conserv

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Climate change is occurring more rapidly in the Arctic than elsewhere, and is predicted to have a large impact on biodiversity, since entire cold-adapted ecosystems are likely to disappear. Here, we highlight changes in the insect species richness and community composition of wild bees, butterflies and moths over 60 years in an area situated above the tree limit (Padjelanta National Park) in northern Sweden. Although there were changes in habitat availability, indicated by a significant decrease in the area of a glacier (from 22 km 2 in 1898 to 7.5 km 2 in 2009), and an increase in the area of birch forest in the National Park, we nevertheless found relatively moderate changes in the insect communities. Indeed, the observed number of species increased from 52 in 1944 to 64 in 2008. Remarkably, the mean number of butterflies and moths per site, but not wild bee species, increased significantly. Among the species that were recorded in both periods, the average altitude of 17 species had shifted downhill, 12 shifted uphill, and the altitude of the remaining 17 had not changed. While alterations in community composition were greater at the highest altitudes, changes in the insect community were smaller than expected, indeed much smaller than those reported from agricultural landscapes in North-West Europe. Interestingly, our results suggest that lower alpine altitudes (600-800 m a.s.l.) have become colonized by southern species, but also that high alpine areas (above 1,000 m a.s.l.) have recently become colonized by high alpine species previously absent from these sites, likely as a result of increasing habitat availability. We conclude that wild bee, butterfly, and moth communities in Arctic areas in northern Sweden are in flux, as a result of climate change and suggest that increased attention must be given to conservation planning in cold areas. In addition, we propose that monitoring programs should be established, because more pronounced climate-driven changes can be expected in the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Climate-driven changes in pollinator assemblages during the last 60 years in an Arctic mountain region in Northern Scandinavia

Franzén

Öckinger

2011

J Insect Conserv

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“…Walter et al 2006;Zimov et al 2006;Mastepanov et al 2008), changes in vegetation composition (e.g. Cannone et al 2007;Cannone and Guglielmin 2009), increases in dissolved material in rivers and oceans (e.g. Benner 2004;Frey and McClelland 2009), are primarily related to the thermal regime of the surface and of the active layer during the thawing season.…”

Section: Active Layer and Permafrost Responses To Gst Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A permafrost warming in a cooling Antarctica?

Guglielmin

Cannone

2011

Climatic Change

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The magnitude and even direction of recent Antarctic climate change is still debated because the paucity of long and complete instrumental data records. While along Antarctic Peninsula a strong warming coupled with large retreat of glaciers occurred, in continental Antarctica a cooling was recently detected. Here, the first existing permafrost data set longer than 10 years recorded in continental Antarctica is presented. Since 1997 summer ground surface temperature showed a strong warming trend (0.31°C per year) although the air temperature was almost stable. The summer ground surface temperature increase seemed to be influenced mainly by the increase of the total summer radiation as confirmed also by the increase of the summer thawing degree days. In the same period the active layer exhibited a thickening trend (1 cm per year) comparable with the thickening rates observed in several Arctic locations where air warming occurred. At all the investigated depths permafrost exhibited an increase of mean annual temperature of approximately 0.1°C per year. The dichotomy between active layer thickness and air temperature trends can produce large unexepected and unmodelled impacts on ecosystems and CO 2 balance.

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“…Historical inventories of the Alpine flora proved to be a useful reference for detecting effects of climate change of the recent past and present (Hofer 1992;Grabherr et al 1994Grabherr et al , 2001Camenisch 2002;Walther et al 2005b;Cannone et al 2007;Holzinger et al 2008;Parolo and Rossi 2008;Vittoz et al 2008). The comparison of recent and past inventories showed striking increases in species richness on mountain tops, and also suggested an increase of the floristic similarity of the summits (Jurasinski and Kreyling 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species’ range shifts in mountainous areas—all uphill from here?

2010

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Species from many different habitats are responding to recent climate change. Mountainous areas are of particular interest as they provide pronounced gradients and have experienced above-average temperature increases. Data from the beginning of the 20th century of both the upper and lower range limits of plants of the European Alps were updated a century later and analyzed in order to identify common trends and deviating patterns of shifts at opposing ends of species' ranges. At the upper limit, there was a strong trend towards an increase in species richness per summit, including 33 species that were recorded for the first time on any of the investigated summit areas. The species experienced a consistent upward shift exceeding 100 elevational meters, and 49 out of the 125 investigated species shifted upwards to a present altitude which is higher than any reported occurrence in the region one century ago. The response at the lower range limit was more heterogeneous and suggests species-specific differences in responsiveness and response patterns. With this approach of the combined analysis of upper and lower range limits along elevational gradients, it is possible to identify candidate species that might not keep pace with climate change, and thus, might face an increased risk of extinction with continued global warming.

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Unexpected impacts of climate change on alpine vegetation

Cited by 93 publications

References 14 publications

Climate-driven changes in pollinator assemblages during the last 60 years in an Arctic mountain region in Northern Scandinavia

Climate-driven changes in pollinator assemblages during the last 60 years in an Arctic mountain region in Northern Scandinavia

A permafrost warming in a cooling Antarctica?

Plant species’ range shifts in mountainous areas—all uphill from here?

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